Vince Sheheen: Ashamed of his own party

Columbia, SC – September 9, 2010 – Is Vince Sheheen ashamed of being a liberal Democrat? Apparently so, according to his first television commercial.

Nowhere in the 30-second spot is it mentioned that Sheheen is a lifelong Democrat. In fact, nowhere in the spot is his political party mentioned at all.

It’s part of a continuing pattern for Sheheen, as he has given wishy-washy, half-answers about where he stands on any number of issues, and tried to dress up his liberal voting record to appeal to moderates.

For example, on the issue of abortion Sheheen has said he is “for life,” but when he had an opportunity to stop paying for abortions in the state health plan, Sheheen walked out of the Senate chamber instead of casting his vote.

Similarly, Sheheen says he’s for “parts” of Obamacare, but refused to state his position on the most extreme part of the legislation – requiring individual citizens to pay a fine if they don’t carry government-approved healthcare insurance.

“As a longtime Columbia insider, Vince Sheheen plays politics well enough to know that if he were to advertise the fact he is a Democrat, he would send even more voters running for the hills,” SCGOP Chairman Karen Floyd said. “Voters are smart enough to know what liberal Democrats like Sheheen are doing to our state and nation, and they’re simply not going to stand for it any longer. Vince Sheheen is a liberal trying desperately to cast himself as a moderate, but his record says otherwise – and two months of slick television commercials can’t erase a decade of liberal voting.”